Not Photoshopped!

When Feel More Better approached me I knew I had to support.  They sent me two "not photoshopped" tees, one for me and one for a lucky winner.  It's a great message to not just women, but young girls as well.  It's important that we are happy with how we look today and not compare ourselves to unrealistic images.  If nothing else, I hope my blog does it's part in showing that you dictate how you look and feel about yourself, not society.  I don't talk about these topics a lot, but since the whole "fatkini" criticisms it really opened my eyes to the negativity to someone embracing who they are. Anyways, let's not get too heavy for a Friday night.  I got a hot date that I am getting ready for *wink.  

Outfit Logistics:  Top: Feel More Better $72, Leggings - Nakimuli $80, Bag - Mulberry for Target $50 (super old), Jacket - Archive Vintage $25, Earrings - Karla Deras Roman Luxe $66 (I know Ive been wearing the hell out of these, but I love them so), Shoes - Nordstrom  Rack $50

Quick story about these shoes --- I did actually fall off of them in the parking deck of my apartment and I skinned my knee.  I get the "I suck" award.  It's just now starting to heal.  Why am I always falling.  I have to do better!

Also,  I know you have been seeing the Chase Small Business messages going around.  I would love to open a plus size boutique and I am have joined the race.  Please take a moment and vote for me at https://www.missionsmallbusiness.com.  The business name is under none other than Garner Style.  I am 162 votes away from qualifying.  Voting ends tomorrow night.  Love you and thanks for your support!

Oh and enter to win the tee.  I know I just did one of these, but I'm trying to catch up with things after being out of town nearly two weeks. Enter through the rafflecopter. Ways to enter are  listed there.  Please note this is a cropped tee and I put a black tank underneath.  This tee is in a XXL and is pretty roomy.  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

My Favorite 5 MAC Lipstick Giveaway

I decided to giveaway my five favorite MAC lip colors. I literally live in these colors.  I am excited about this giveaway because I love these colors and can't wait to send the lucky winner my favorites.  The only that I didn't include was Angel, which is my favorite nude, but the girl a the counter said Touch would fair better on all skin types.  In my humble opinion, these colors can get your through days and nights.   They have to power to turn up your look.  I also think these are colors that anyone can wear.  I love doing giveaways, because I love you guys!

a Rafflecopter giveaway



Entries are taken through the Rafflecopter Widget.   All entrants must be a follower of the blog via Google Friend Connect.  You can enter up to 6 different ways using Facebook and Twitter.  The Rafflecopter Widget will tell you how.  Good Luck to all.  Winner to be announced on Friday. June 29th.  

***Update - Please take a moment to vote for me for the Chase Small Business grant at here.  It would mean that I could turn my online boutique into a brick and mortar location here in Dallas.  Please note voting for me will not increase or decrease you chance of winning the prize above.  Thank you for your time and vote.   My business name is under Garner Style.  

Celebrity Style Capture: Evelyn Lozada

Love her or hate her, this outfit was adorable.  Protesting against basketball wives is kind of hard when every time I turn on the TV, it's on VH1.  So needless to say, I did see the reunion show.  Don't judge me! Evelyn definitely did Miami chic right!  I thought this would be a fun outfit to reinterpret.  

Outfit Logistics:  American Apparel $28 (size Large), Skirt - QVC $83, Shoes - Talbots $18, Belt - Michael Kors $50, Clutch - Nordstrom Rack $50, Earring - Karla Deras Roman Luxe $66

As you can see the wind was really kicking up some steam.  I wonder if a Marilyn moment is as cute with you spanx underneath. LOL!

A Torrid Affair

Jessica Kane(from the Life and Time of Jessica Kane) & Torrid collaborated and threw a blogger soiree to launch their new stiletto jean.  Bloggers got the first look of the new jean, tried on, and pick a pair to have sent to them.  I can't wait to receive mine.  From first glance, they seemed comfortable, stylish, and fit like a glove.  I had on my girdle while trying them on (as you can see from the bulges below), so I really didn't get a chance to move around in them and see if they pass the "Chas Booty Test."  Those of you who read my blog regularly know that I am not a jean girl.  Reason being is because jeans are a hard fit for me and walking around pulling on jeans to get them to stay up is not my idea of chic or comfy.  Also, I detest of the idea of south cleavage.  So the "Chas Booty Test, consists of walking around in pair of jeans to test comfort, because believe it or not my dresses and skirts are really comfortable, and to test how the jeans will move with me.  Once I get and wear the jeans I will let you know.  

I figured I would go ahead and post this dress.  I got a lot of questions of where it's from.  It's a JIBRI dress that I purchased over a year ago and just found the perfect event to wear it to.  Now that I am looking at this picture, I wish I would have added a necklace.    

Outfit Logistics:   Dress - JIBRI (I forgot how much it was), Belt - Michael Kors $50, Shoes - Nordstrom Rack (as usual)

Pictured above:  Travelin' Partner and Resident Cool Kid Kiah from Rez & the City & the Colorful Lady Bella Styles, Allie from Allie Style (she is as nice as she is pretty)

So I just figured out that even though I have this nifty new camera my memory card needed replacing (it's at least 4 years old), hence a lot of my pictures aren't accessible.  Please don't hate me if I didn't post your picture.  I am missing so many pics...I had to picture jack from other folks at the events.  

1/2 of FFFWeek Day 2

Ok, I know I've been slackin' on my pimpin, but the internet at the hotel was out for two whole days.  Day 2, I actually assisted with the styling of the JIBRI Fall Collection at the Indie show.  Call time was at 2:30, so again I need to be able to do a quick change from day to night.  I have figured out that NYC is a city where you need to be able to do a night to night change without going back home. This time I decided to do a quick bottom/shoe change.  

Me with stylist Reah Norman - Top: Diane von Furstenburg $200 via Nordstrom Rack (top in a size 10), Skirt - QVC $83, Belt - Michael Kors $50

After finishing my duties I did a quick change -- I will not disclose the place where I changed, but there are probably still a few men still scratching their heads.

My night time look consisted of: Full length high waist skirt from JIBRI $110 (it was in a specialty silk shantung fabric -- it was absolutely gorgeous), Top - Diane von Furstenburg $200 via Nordstrom Rack, Earrings - Karla's Closet Roman Luxe Triangle $66, Shoes - J Renee via Nordstrom Rack $99

I absolutely loved every pieces of my look for the Indie show.  The combination of designers  and the fabrics just had me so excited.  Let me just also say that I LOVE my earrings from Karla Deras Roman Luxe Collection.  I know I will probably pick up a couple more pieces.  Now, I took a lot of back stage photos, because that's where I was.  I really caught just the tail end of the Indie show, but I am happy to share what I have.  The following photos are of the JIBRI 2012 Fall Collection.  Check out Jasmine of JIBRI in her super cute silk jumpsuit.  Oh and can you say LEATHER!!!!

Stay tuned for more blog posts on FFFWeek.  I will probably do three more.  There are so many pictures, it is probably better for me to break it up.  Getting ready for the show was intense, but honestly they always are.  Tell me what you think so far.  

FFFWeek Day 1

Ok, so I endured my first full day of Full Figured Fashion Week.  I say endured because I have never been in so much pain and physical discomfort in all my life.  Trudging through the city fully dressed, beating the concrete, and dare I saw perspiration was definitely not the highlight LOL.  After day 1, I will be taking a cab EVERYWHERE! When I started to dress for the day, I thought I could dress for my daytime look and come back and dress for night.  WRONG!  A friend, who used to live here, said you will not have time to change.  So I had to do a quick switcheroo and make the days outfit into a quick day to night ensemble.  (I usually edit my pics with brightening, light, etc but this is guerrilla style since I'm still in NYC and don't have my computer).  

This is the daytime look with the JIBRI jumpsuit $240, H&M sweater $24 (straight size), and a pair of nude flats.  

That night I attended the Curves and Cocktail event.  It was nice to a lot of my fellow bloggers, such as, Parisan blogger Gaelle from Les Pitreries de Vanoue.  For night, I just removed the sweater and added a vintage necklace.  I slipped my removed items into my Macys shopping bag.  Speaking of Macys, tsk tsk....I went and visited the big Macys in NYC.  It was literally 9 floors! I went to visit the women's section on the 7th floor.  I will say that they had the biggest selection of plus size clothing of any department store that I had seen, but I was sorely disappointed to see how neglected the department was.  The mannequins were styled poorly, the clothes just thrown around, and even the flooring was broken up and cracked.  Let's just say it was obvious who the step child of Macys was in this situation.  

This was a mannequin display in the plus size section of the landmark Macys.  Now the department actually had some very cute items, but they chose these tops to put on the mannequin. Now I thought the Michael Kors dress was cute, but it needed to pinned to give a more desirable fit and I won't even mention the JESUS SANDALS.  Um, yes I will....of all the shoes you have, these are the shoes you pick.  The jeans look just thrown on.  My 5 year old niece could have done a better job.  

Anyways, that's my time and day one of Full Figured Fashion Week.  Tonight, I am going to the Indie show.  I can't wait.  

Instagram Chicago

As I share with you my Chicago experience, I am truly exhausted.   I haven't been posting lately in preparation for this Chicago trip and  my upcoming New York trip.   All I can do is pray to the Lord to give me strength to make it to NYC.    

Annually my friends go on a girl's trip.  We leave all our responsibilities behind and pick one particular place wreak havoc on for a particular weekend.  We were celebrating a friend's birthday and she choose Chicago.   No offense to you Chi-Towners, but I heard many bad things about Chicago, so let's just say I was disappointed  in the destination selection...until I got there.   We had a fabulous time!!! We stayed at the Chicago Hilton, which was, besides being a lovely hotel with a wonderful staff, it also was minutes away (via cab/bus/walking) from restaurants, clubs, shopping, and site seeing. We enjoyed spa services from Balance Spa at the The Palmer's House (also a Hilton Property), where my massage therapist gave me the best massage of my LIFE! We actually pre-booked spa treatments via Groupon.  We got mini facials, a 50 min. massage and pedicures. That was the best $100 I ever spent.  We ate at Zapatista (horrible experience), Havana (GREAT!), Cafe Iberico (Wonderful & where we got that banana dessert LOL), and all the Garrett's popcorn we could consume with out tossing our cookies.  Friday night, we danced our butts off at Griffin Lounge, where the DJ could probably be my new BFF.  We visited the Navy Pier for some traditional sight seeing and went shopping off of State Street. Overall, Chicago reminded me of a much cleaner and less crowded New York City.  The city was gorgeous and the people were so nice.  I definitely hope to visit again.  

Even though there are quite a few cocktails posted, please note that everyone is over the age of 21 and no one was driving.  Please drink responsibly.  

Karla Deras X Roman Luxe

I am super obsessed with this jewelry line from Karla's Closet.  For those who don't know, Karla's Closet is one of the, if not the, hottest fashion blogs around.  Anyways, with python snake skin accents, this is usually something I would hate.  I have a personal vendetta with snake skin, it is usually looks very cheap to me.  I also rarely ever buy jewelry, I seem to be very picky and that generally end up not buying anything at all.  Since I never post on jewelry, I know I must be really in love with the line to feel compelled enough to tell you ladies.  I actually ordered the big triangle earrings.  I can't wait to get them in!

My favorite pieces are the Python Pendant Necklace, the Triangle Drop Earrings, & the Triangle Python bracelet.  The line is reasonably priced, the jewelry ranges from $44 - $110. You can find the entire line at http://www.revolveclothing.com.  

Designer to Watch: Youtheary Khmer

Let's just say the "Designer to Watch" segments are my favorite.  I love that the plus size community basically says that if you won't give the fashion we want we will make fabulous clothes for ourselves.  That's exactly what designer, Theary Sims of Youtheary Khmer, did.  Her collection is fun, flirty, and full of life. An added bonus is that almost everything in this line is under $100.  And for you FFF Week attendees, this designer will be showing at the Independent Designer's feature Friday night.  To me this line fills the H&M/Zara void in the plus size community.  I always go in those stores loving the funness (yes I made that word up) and youthfulness of those clothes, but of course I generally can't wear their clothes.  This lines gives the plus size girl an option of that look. 

 Color Block Jersey Dress $69/YK Chiffon Blouse Dress $89

 YK Butler Baby Doll $59/YK Drape Tee $39

YK Wide Cut Cashmere Pant $59/YK Goddess Maxi Skirt $69

What are my favorites? I am loving the color block dress and those purple wide leg trousers.  They are both just adorable.  What are your favorite pieces?

You can purchase these pieces at others at the Youtheary Khmer here.  

***Update:  Since the I posted this yesterday the collection actuatlly sold out, but will be available for preorders. Congrats to this designer.